Egwene Visits the World of Dreams While Nynaeve Tackles the Sea in <i>The Wheel of Time</i>’s “Tel’aran’rhiod”

In this week’s episode of The Wheel of Time, Elayne and Nynaeve learn the secret of the Sea Folk, while Egwene ventures into the World of Dreams and Moiraine struggles with the things she learned, and found, in Rhuidean. 

Recap

“Telaran’rhiod” opens with Moiraine standing out in the desert, attempting to channel through the Sakarnen.

The Shaido have refused to accept Rand as the Car’a’carn, and some other clans may do the same. Bair gives Aviendha the duty of teaching Rand the ways of the Aiel. They arrive at Cold Rocks Hold, where Rhuarc and Bair’s wife, Lian (Nicole Sherwin) is roofmistress.

In the White Tower, Elaida has an audience with Siuan, in which she states her intention to bring the White Tower back to a state of power and glory. She intends to call a vote in the Hall about caging the Dragon Reborn. Elaida remembers that Siuan and Moiraine were close when they were younger, and is confident their relationship is more than what it seems to be.

Bair and Melaine take Egwene into Tel’aran’rhiod. The World of Dreams is a dangerous place; if you die in the Dream, you die in the waking world. Egwene accidentally transports herself to the streets of the Dream version of Tar Valon, where she is assaulted by Lanfear. When she wakes, Bair tells her that she is being stalked by one of the Forsaken.

Elaida tells Alviarin (Clare-Hope Ashitey) of the White Ajah that she can prove that Siuan has been purposely destroying the White Tower from within. Elaida corners Adeleas, who reveals the location of the two imprisoned Black Ajah members. This is the trap laid for Elaida by Siuan, Verin, and Leane, to discover whether she is also a Darkfriend.

On the ship to Tanchico, Mat is frustrated at being cooped up with Elayne and Nynaeve. Despite being told by the Sea Folk Sailmistress that they must stay in their cabin, Mat goes to the deck and the girls follow. The Sailmistress, Corin (Dany Verissimo-Petit), gives Nynaeve advice on how to stand like a sailor. Mat discovers that Min is also on board.

Dain Bornhald (Jay Duffy) catches Natti Cauthon (Juliet Howland) trying to steal his keys. He is struck by the One Power. Realizing that either Natti or one of her daughters can channel, he gives Natti to Aemon Valda (Abdul Salis) for questioning. 

Perrin, Faile, Bain and Chiad prepare to infiltrate the White Cloak camp. Alanna will channel a wall of mist for cover. Maksim and Alanna argue, and she admits that she has come to the Two Rivers to find channelers; he wants to build a stronger army to fight in the Last Battle. Maksim wants to go find Liandrin and avenge Ihvon’s death. Alanna turns off the bond and Maksim leaves.

Melindhra shares memories of Malkier with Lan. Later, Moiraine tells Lan what she saw in Rhuidean: that the only future in which Rand survives is one in which she dies.

Mat finds a drawing that Min made of her vision, in which he is hanging by his neck from a doorway. He points out that her visions have been wrong before.

Nynaeve and Elayne witness the Sea Folk Windfinder, Jorin (Carmela Bonomi) channeling. They learn that the Sea Folk keep the strength of their channelers a secret, and promise to keep that secret from the rest of the White Tower. They arrive at Tanchico, and Min joins their group.

Elaida visits Amico and Joiya. She decapitates Amico and tortures Joiya, but Joiya is killed by a Gray Man before she can confess anything. The Gray Man nearly kills Elaida before she is saved by Leane and Siuan. Siuan admits that it was a trap, and that she misjudged Elaida by thinking she might be a Darkfriend.

Valda realizes that the mist has been created by channeling. Perrin, Faile, Bain, and Chiad sneak into the camp and free Mat’s sisters, but Perrin finds Natti burned to death on a stake. He and Faile are attacked by Whitecloaks. Faile saves Perrin after he is wounded.

Valda leads a team of Whitecloaks to capture Alanna, shooting her with arrows as she fights them. Alanna is saved at the last moment by Maksim, who kills the remaining Whitecloaks. He tells her that she turned the bond back on when she was shot, and carries her away.

Lanfear visits Rand in his dreams. He says that he can see strength and determination behind her Darkness. She has fallen in love with his Light as well as his darker aspects.

Moiraine asks Egwene to escort her through Tel’aran’rhiod to deliver a message to Siuan. Egwene takes her to Siuan’s dream, where Moiraine tells Siuan that the White Tower must bend the knee to Rand or he will lose the Last Battle. Moiraine tells Siuan that what they had is broken and cannot be mended in this life. Siuan promises to find Moiraine in the next life, and every one after that, and Moiraine promises to wait for her. They kiss.

Egwene visits her friends’ dreams. She sees Nynaeve giving instruction as Wisdom of Emond’s Field. Elayne dreams of being a Sea Folk Windfinder, channeling to fill the sails and then being embraced by Aviendha. Mat dreams of being a lord and providing for his family, while Perrin dreams of working in his smithy; Egwene is surprised to see a new face, Faile’s, at his side. Finally, Egwene visits Rand, but is horrified to see Lanfear with him. Lanfear meets Egwene’s eyes.

Commentary

“Tel’aran’rhiod” introduces us to the World of Dreams, to new societies like the Sea Folk, and some small but pointed lessons for Nynaeve around her fear of channeling, but the story itself is about connections between people. From Aes Sedai and Warders, to long-standing friends, to romantic relationships, both old and new, the episode explores what it means to be connected, and what it means to stand apart, from the other people in your life.

Rand is obviously isolated as the Dragon Reborn, though the episode doesn’t focus on him as much as the other main characters. His evolving relationship with Lanfear—someone who he believes he knows and has come to understand—is contrasted with the distance grown between him and Egwene, while his love and affinity for children is contrasted with his resistance to Aviendha’s teaching about Aiel ways, and her own prickliness towards him.

The episode focuses strongly on Egwene’s connections to others as well. Even though every one of her friends’ dreams (Lanfear notwithstanding) is a good one, and she clearly enjoys seeing them, there is still a sense of loneliness in these nocturnal visits. 

When Moiraine arrives in Siuan’s dream, Siuan recognizes her right away. Whether Siuan is aware that she’s dreaming and that Moiraine has traveled Tel’aran’rhiod, or believes that she’s awake and that Moiraine reached her by some other mystical fashion, Siuan is instantly aware of her lover, and the two are able to talk, connect, and even kiss.

But when Egwene visits Nynaeve’s dream, Nynaeve is unable to see her at all, despite Egwene’s initial expectation that she will. The reason for this isn’t clear—Moiraine was not traveling the Dream herself but rather was delivered by Egwene from one dream to another, and so may have become a part of Siuan’s dream, while Egwene stood apart, looking in. Whatever the reason, there is a sense of distance established as Egwene observes Nynaeve teaching a young girl to listen to the wind. Egwene stands far away from the scene, and the viewer is aware, as Egwene herself must be, of the scene in season one in which Nynaeve taught Egwene the same lesson. But now Nynaeve is dreaming of some other girl, not Egwene, who stands and watches Nyenave dream of the life she has left behind. A life they have both left behind.

In Mat’s dream he is with his mother and sisters, and only Perrin is mentioned. In Elayne’s dream she stands on the Sea Folk raker and channels in a way that would look strange and unfamiliar to Egwene, who has not learned about Windfinders. Perrin, in contrast, dreams of somewhere familiar to Egwene, but is with a person Egwene has never met. And in each scene, Egwene’s Aiel garb, designed to blend into the desert, makes her stand out, looking foreign and strange. It’s clear that she doesn’t fit into the surroundings, and while she is clearly happy for her friends, she also doesn’t quite seem to share in their peace.

Until she arrives in Rand’s dream, that is. The change that comes over her is marked; she seems to blossom in the sunlight as she realizes where she is. She appears ready to go to Rand until she sees Lanfear. For a moment, it feels like Egwene belongs. Then, Lanfear shatters that illusion.

Earlier in the episode, Bair tells Egwene that it is time for her to stop watching Rand and invites her to join the Wise Ones in “walking the Dream.” She does not literally say that it is time for Egwene to start living her own life, but she might as well have; this ability to enter Tel’aran’rhiod is something special to Egwene, her own version of uniqueness and power, and it is clearly setting her apart from Rand as much as Rand’s own destiny has. Egwene even leaves the bedroom she is sharing with Rand to sleep nearer to the Wise Ones, a decision that clearly hurts Rand, though he verbally supports it.

Egwene is hardly the only person in the episode who struggles with concepts of connection and distance, however. Alanna and Maksim’s relationship has continued to fracture since Ihvon’s death, culminating in their argument before the attempt to rescue the Cauthons. Despite Maksim’s desire to turn off the bond for a time and Alanna’s refusal to do so, Maksim is the one making the outward bid for connection, begging Alanna to come away with him, making jokes and reminding her of things she likes, like the shop in Ebou Dar. Alanna, in turn, has admitted to Perrin that she finds Maksim’s grief suffocating. He continues to serve his role as Warder, but the relationship is not balanced, and one sees some parallels between his distress and Lan’s in season two. His Aes Sedai is not telling him everything, despite the fact that he continues to ask. It is only during their fight that Alanna tells him, harshly, that he isn’t enough.

Here, the truth of their conflict comes out: Alanna is attempting to deal with her grief over Ihvon’s death by focusing on preparing for the Last Battle—a goal and a viewpoint much broader than her own loss—while Maksim cares only for the two people he loves most and wants to seek revenge for Ihvon’s death. Their different approaches to grief is part of what is dividing them, but the fact that Ihvon was the emotional lynchpin around which their relationship turned is also relevant—Alanna implies much by saying Maksim isn’t enough, while Maksim is (at least momentarily) willing to leave her behind to focus on revenging Ihvon. It is only when he returns to rescue her that the both realize they are still committed to each other—Alanna unconsciously turned the bond back on, and Maksim came at once. Whether or not their conflict will be resolved by this moment remains to be seen, but their connection to each other is nonetheless clear. 

Lan and Moiraine’s connection has already been tested and reconfirmed, however. Moiraine is able to confide in him fairly easily, as she admits she knows that she must die and that she is grieving and afraid over the revelation. There is nothing Lan can do to fix this problem, or to carry this burden for her, but he is able to provide comfort and even a moment of levity all the same. Their connection in this episode shows how much they have both learned from the conflict in season two.

Moiraine and Siuan also show the strength of their love for each other. In talking about what happened in Cairhien, they are both able to see the others’ perspective, even though they are each hurt by the other’s choices. When Siuan expresses regret over her lack of skill in managing being Amyrlin, Moiraine comforts her. And when Moiraine tells Siuan that what they had has been broken (clearly a lie intended to spare Siuan pain over Moiraine’s future death) Siuan reconfirms her commitment to Moiraine not only in one life, but in every life. It is a beautiful moment, and shows how their love is stronger even than the events that have put distance between them, both metaphorically and literally.

Lan’s feelings of isolation and lack of connection to Malkier is also touched on in his conversation with Melindhra, in which he laments not being able to remember anything about the land of his birth. Melindhra consoles him, but it is interesting that her own reminiscence of Malkier lacks any substance. She speaks of the country’s poetry and other achievements, but only in the abstract; she never quotes any lines or gives any specifics. When Lan asks what she misses most, Melindhra offers the most generic response possible, “the laughter.” Everywhere has laughter, Melindhra.

Min, on the other hand, seems to be finding connection for the first time, as she once again chooses Mat over the task she has been assigned to complete and joins him, Elayne, and Nynaeve on their quest. She appears to be trying to cultivate a different relationship to her visions, as well. These visions tie her to the Pattern and to the lives of everyone she meets in profound ways; the viewer wonders if Min will find a way to experience that connection as such, rather than as something that makes her keep extreme distance from the world and everyone in it.
I have to say, I laughed when Mat found the sketch of himself hanged in the doorframe. Not because Mat’s pain is funny, but because the moment is so very true to one of the character’s biggest personality traits. He is, in many ways, the architect of his own suffering; it is just so like him to demand Min never tell any of the visions she sees around him, only to stumble right into the worst one while he’s trying to tease her. I’m not saying he deserved what he got, exactly… but he kind of did. Dónal Finn continues to delight in the role, and I think he has struck exactly the right balance with his portrayal of Mat—equal parts mischievous rogue, genuine and earnest friend, and man who always puts his foot in his mouth at the worst possible moment.

Nynaeve’s connection to her home, to the one Power, and to her own sense of identity is also touched on in the episode, as Coine tries to teach her how to stand like a sailor, rather than a woman from the mountains. Coine insists that Nynaeve’s sea sickness is because she is stubborn and rooted, fighting to make the deck still underneath her feet rather than learning to accommodate its motion. Later, Corin suggests that this same effort at control is the reason Nynaeve can’t channel at will—the One Power is like the sea, always flowing on whether one wants it to or not. She invites Nynaeve to ponder a very interesting idea: that Nynaeve’s own sense of identity as a woman (being a Wisdom) is not her only option, and that the Aes Sedai method of channeling is also one of many ways to be a channeler.

This encounter with the Sea Folk is a bit truncated, which is perhaps unavoidable given the short length of the show’s season. However, a viewer might wonder at how easy it ended up being for Nynaeve and Elayne to discover the secret of the Sea Folks’ ability to channel, after it was kept from the Aes Sedai for so long. True, Coine and Jorin are under the impression that Nynaeve and Elayne are full Aes Sedai, rather than Accepted, and so will believe that the promise not to tell anyone is bound by the First of the Three Oaths. However, one wonders what they would have done if Nynaeve and Elayne—who as far as they know are full Aes Sedai loyal to the White Tower—had refused to keep the secret.

Speaking of the Three Oaths, I am very perplexed that Elaida was able to use the One Power to murder Amico and Joiya (she never got the chance to kill Joiya but stated her intention to do so) in cold blood. The Three Oaths were explained by Moiraine back in the second episode of season one, including the Third Oath, in which an Aes Sedai swears “never to use the One Power as a weapon, except in the last extreme defense of her own life, or the life of her Warder, or another Aes Sedai.” Later in season two, when Liandrin attacks Nynaeve in the Ways, Liandrin confirms that such an attack violates the Third Oath—the fact that she can violate it proves she is Black Ajah.

An Aes Sedai who is not sworn to the Dark shouldn’t be able to murder an unarmed, defenseless prisoner. This would suggest that Elaida is Black Ajah—however, Siuan and Leane take the Gray Man’s attack as proof that she is not.

There are a couple possible answers to this conundrum. One is that Siuan and Leane arrived too late to see Elaida’s murder of Amico and assume that she was also killed by the Gray Man. Seeing Elaida being attacked in the same way made them believe that she could not be Black Ajah, a fair enough assumption under the circumstances.

Verin learned that each member of the Black Ajah only knows the names of three others, so Elaida’s desire to learn more names doesn’t necessarily prove her innocence. She may have been trying to gather more of the Black Ajah around her in an attempt to gain power, just as Liandrin did. And her presence in the cells would not necessarily have been anticipated by Moghedien, or whichever member of the Forsaken sent the Gray Man. It would no doubt have been instructed to kill everyone it found in the room—the death of any Aes Sedai who happened to be in the cell interrogating the prisoners when the Gray Man arrived would certainly have pleased the Dark, and the small possibility of a Darkfriend being being present at the time would hardly have mattered to the Forsaken, if they even thought that far at all.

It is a little more difficult to imagine any way that Elaida might not be Black Ajah, but it is important to remember that the Three Oaths are somewhat subjective. The most prominent example of this is the first Oath, in which an Aes Sedai swears “To speak no word that is not true.” Functionally, this Oath prevents an Aes Sedai from saying anything she knows to be untrue, but not something she doesn’t know is untrue. There is a difference between lying and being honestly mistaken. Also, as has been pointed out by more than one character throughout the show, Aes Sedai are able to deliberately mislead by choosing their words carefully and letting their listeners infer something that was never actually stated.

The words “last extreme defence” would certainly seem to suggest something more like Alanna’s situation with the Whitecloaks than Elaida’s assault on the prisoners, but the Oath does not outline the exact parameters of what the term means. The Black Ajah are an enormous and unprecedented threat to every Aes Sedai, and to the White Tower itself. A certain kind of woman might feel that their very existence constitutes a last extreme, and we have seen that Elaida is an intense person, one who carries a deep personal hatred for a professional rival and is willing to do just about anything to tear her down and make her suffer in the process. If Elaida is not a member of the Black, and if she truly sees the very existence of the Black Ajah as a headsman’s axe about to fall upon her and all of her sisters, she would probably be able to use the One Power as a weapon, even to kill, under those circumstances.

Either way, Elaida’s visit to Joiya and Amico gives viewers a lot to ponder, and since her story has been somewhat altered from the source material (and there is always the potential for further, possibly radical, alteration later in the show) even book lovers can join in on the fun of such speculation.

Another slight alteration from the books is the character of Bair, who is actually a combination of two book characters, Bair and Amys, who are Egwene’s main teachers in the source material, although Melaine is also important. Interestingly, Bair’s character in many ways resembles Amys more than Bair—in the books, Amys can channel and Bair cannot. Melaine, however, can channel in the books but not in the show.

Bair, Rhuarc and Lian’s relationship introduces the audience to the concept of Aiel polyamory, and also updates it in a refreshing way. In the books, the Aiel do engage in polyamory but only men have multiple wives, and the wives consider each other to be sisters—much like the forms of patriarchal polyamory we know from our own Age. The inherent sexism of such an arrangement is mitigated slightly by the fact that Aiel women pursue men, and that the polyamory is arranged by the prospective wives/sisters, rather than by the men. However, the portrayal of Aiel polyamory as a multi-sided romantic relationship is a much more modern version of such an arrangement, and treats the concept of romantic and sexual love between women with more dignity than in the original version.

I really enjoyed episode five, and it feels like season three is really starting to pick up steam. I’m excited to see what comes next week.

Favorite Line:

Also, did you see Alanna rip an arrow out of her own body and hurl it into that Whitecloak with the One Power. Incredible. I stan for the Green Ajah.

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